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Energy Optimizer Integrates Data from External Systems

March 17, 2010

Using an array of new software connectors, Arch Rock's energy monitoring system brings data from servers, power, and cooling systems to gives users actionable information and cost-effective energy-monitoring choices.


SAN FRANCISCO, CA --(BUSINESS WIRE)--Arch Rock Corporation has introduced an array of new software connectors for its Energy Optimizer energy monitoring product, allowing energy data previously "stranded" on multi-vendor servers, power and cooling system components, and building management systems (BMS) to be viewed, correlated and analyzed within the Energy Optimizer application.

"Energy Optimizer was already able to export data to other applications using CSV, XML and web services interfaces. This new set of connectors to import data makes Energy Optimizer the single most open energy-monitoring solution on the market."

The new connectors—the first five in a planned series—offer the following open protocols and interfaces:

  • ODBC (Open Database Connectivity)
  • SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
  • IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface)
  • CSV (Comma Separated Values)
  • SOAP/REST (Simple Object Access Protocol/Representational State Transfer)

With these connectors, Energy Optimizer offers direct and easy access to virtually any relevant energy and environmental data in addition to that already collected by Arch Rock's own wireless sensors—including data from individual servers, power distribution unit (PDU) internal elements, air handler or chiller internal elements, and BMS systems. This gives data center and building managers the ability to gain a deeper understanding of their electrical and thermal conditions and more easily calculate their Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE). It also lets them make the most cost-effective possible energy-monitoring choices by combining sensed data from power, cooling or computing device-embedded sensors with that from wireless environmental, thermal or power sensors.

The new Energy Optimizer connectors are already in use with such industry-leading products as Emerson Liebert SiteScan, Schneider APC Rack PDUs, IBM iDataPlex PDUs and Dell PowerEdge Servers. The standards-based connectors ensure Energy Optimizer's compatibility with a wide variety of additional vendors and products.

Data Brought Under One Umbrella Becomes Immediately Actionable
"A huge amount of energy data routinely collected by air handlers, chillers, PDUs, individual servers and even costly BMS systems remains 'stranded' within a specific vendor's user interface, showing users only part of the energy picture," said Roland Acra, Arch Rock CEO. "But what good is having data on how fast the air handler's fans are spinning if you can't correlate it with server rack inlet/outlet temperatures? Energy Optimizer now taps into all of this data, displaying and correlating it with information from Arch Rock wireless sensor networks. This unified context gives users a much more fine-grained understanding of their facilities' electrical and thermal conditions and lets them act quickly to increase capacity or address problems. They can compare results from internal and external sensors for accuracy, or in some cases realize substantial savings by combining data from device-enabled sensors with that from easily deployed, non-intrusive wireless sensors.

"Energy Optimizer was already able to export data to other applications using CSV, XML and web services interfaces. This new set of connectors to import data makes Energy Optimizer the single most open energy-monitoring solution on the market."

Energy Optimizer Connectors in Use: Two Examples
A major university's data center runs Liebert SiteScan to monitor its PDUs, but the monitoring results previously could be viewed only within SiteScan, and not in the context of thermal or power-use data for the facility's HVAC components. To compute an accurate PUE, data center staff had to manually record the SiteScan readings and the HVAC power readings and perform the PUE calculation by hand. Through the SNMP or SOAP/REST connector between SiteScan and Energy Optimizer, the data from the two sources can be combined; the PUE figure is now calculated automatically and in real time.

In an enterprise data center that has a high-density compute cluster with multiple server racks, the IT manager needs to be certain that no individual server is overheating. But deploying external physical sensors at several levels on each rack alone provides data at rack or sub-rack granularity, rather than by individual server. Using an IPMI connector, Energy Optimizer pulls CPU temperature data from all 42 servers in each rack and displays it on the system's dashboard, allowing temperature threshold alerts to be set. Through the same connector, Energy Optimizer can pull in data on server fan speed and CPU power, and compare it with server rack inlet/outlet temperature data gathered by Arch Rock and/or internal server sensors.

Pricing and Availability
Energy Optimizer connectors for use with ODBC, SNMP, IPMI, CVS and SOAP/REST interfaces are available immediately. Prices start at $1,995 for each type of connector, increasing with facility size.

About Arch Rock
Arch Rock Corp. is a pioneer in IP-based wireless sensor network (WSN) technology, focusing on energy and environmental monitoring applications. The company's PhyNet WSN architecture is the foundation for turning autonomous wireless sensing points into IP- and Web-enabled devices that can communicate data locally or globally, enabling ubiquitous, non-disruptive and cost-effective instrumentation for improved energy and environmental management. Arch Rock's Energy Optimizer solution allows enterprises to better monitor, analyze and optimize their use of energy resources while maintaining safe, reliable and comfortable environmental conditions in their buildings, campuses and data centers.






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